The present invention relates to a method of feeding elongated articles on a wrapping machine.
The present invention is particularly advantageous for use in the tobacco industry, and specifically for feeding articles such as cigars, cigarettes or similar.
In the following description, specific reference will be made purely by way of example to cigar wrapping machines.
Known cigar wrapping machines are equipped with a cigar feed device comprising a hopper with at least one channel underneath. The hopper has walls converging towards an outlet from which the channel extends, and houses a mass of cigars oriented a given way. Inside the hopper, the cigars drop by force of gravity towards the outlet and into the channel, along which they are arranged in an orderly column contacting one another, are guided by two opposite parallel walls of the channel, and travel under their own weight and the weight of the cigars inside the hopper.
Known feed devices have the drawback of the cigars possibly forming bridges, i.e. arc-shaped supporting structures defined by adjacent cigars resting on one another and on the walls of the hopper, and which clog the outlet, thus preventing the cigars from being fed into the channel, and preventing the cigars on top from exerting the weight force required to feed the cigars along the channel.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of feeding elongated articles on a wrapping machine, designed to eliminate the drawbacks of the known state of the art.
According to the present invention, there is provided a method of feeding elongated articles on a wrapping machine comprising a device in turn comprising a hopper for housing a mass of said articles oriented in a first direction, and at least one channel for feeding the articles and in which said articles are arranged in an orderly column; said channel being connected to an outlet of the hopper; and the method being characterized by comprising the step of feeding said mass of articles along an annular path inside said hopper; said outlet being located along said annular path.
The present invention also relates to a device for feeding elongated articles on a wrapping machine.
According to the present invention, there is provided a device for feeding elongated articles on a wrapping machine; the device comprising a hopper for housing a mass of said articles oriented in a first direction, and at least one channel for feeding the articles and in which said articles are arranged in an orderly column; said channel being connected to an outlet of the hopper; and the device being characterized by comprising conveying means housed inside said hopper to feed said mass of articles along an annular path inside said hopper; said outlet being located along said annular path.